Applying for college can be pretty stressful. For us musicians, there is an extra level of stress because we have to go out to each college and audition. Your performance in a short audition can make or break your chances of getting into that school – talk about pressure! Auditioning can be a great experience however, it gives you an opportunity to bring your playing to another level. Doing a great job at an audition is a major boost in self-confidence as well. With the right amount of preparation – and the right amount of practice – you can breeze through auditions like it’s your job. Here are some of the biggest lessons I learned from my college auditions.
This article is part two of my series on going to college for music. Please also read part one – Choosing the Right College for Classical Guitar.
My Experience with Auditions
About a year and a half before my college auditions, I decided I wanted to be a music major. This meant a major decision, should I study jazz guitar or classical guitar? I was taking jazz guitar lessons at the time and only dabbled in classical guitar. I decided classical guitar was something I would rather do as a profession, so I purchased a nylon string and had my guitar teacher show me the ropes. Practicing like crazy was necessary to get up to audition level in a year and a half, so practice like crazy I did. When the time came to apply for schools, I did so based on their audition requirements. I wasn’t going to apply for a school that required me to play music I was not going to be able to have ready in time. This essentially excluded all conservatories.
By the time my first audition rolled around, I had really grown as a classical guitar player. I had spent countless hours developing some pretty serious audition pieces such as Capricho Arabe. Every single school I auditioned at accepted me, except for Berklee College of Music (My classical audition didn’t entirely line up with their expectations). It was at that time I realized that I had applied for schools based on my expectations of how I was going to be able to play, and I could have certainly applied for a couple “stretch” schools. All this being said, I very much enjoyed my music education at The College of New Jersey. I also got to spend a semester studying at the conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany.
Preparing for Auditions
Now that you’ve done your research into the schools you want to apply/audition for, take a look at those audition requirements. The level of intimidation these requirements have all depends on how long you have been studying classical guitar and how long you have to prepare. Preferably, you want a good amount of time to prepare. Well over a year would be great. If you have less time (which is probably the case), you need to get a practice schedule together. It’s very important to be open with your current guitar teacher about the schools you’re applying for and their requirements. While I aim to help you with this article, I do not know you, your skill level, or your practice habits.
Let’s look at the audition requirements for two schools for reference. Let’s go for a high end conservatory – Juilliard, and a Liberal Arts School with a great music program – Ithaca. (I auditioned at Ithaca and very much enjoyed that school. I especially liked meeting and auditioning for Pablo Cohen, the guitar chair) If you follow both of these links, you will see the layout is much different. Juilliard has all of the application requirements on its audition page, and Ithaca simply has the requirements for the audition, classical or jazz.
It is good that Juilliard has all of their requirements on one page. One thing I noticed right away is that you must have a high school diploma at the time of application. This is the kind of requirement that warrants an email to someone however, because the “Applicants with High School Equivalency” section mentions SAT scores, AP scores, and high school transcripts as acceptable forms of documentation.
The Juilliard Audition
If we look at the Juilliard audition, we see a list of a lot of repertoire to be performed. It is required that they are all from memory.
- Two contrasting movements of a J.S. Bach suite, partita, or sonata (includes Prelude, Fugue & Allegro BWV998).
- Two etudes by Heitor Villa-Lobos.
- A complete work of any period.
- Two contrasting works:
- One Renaissance, Classical (e.g. Sor, Giuliani, Regondi, Mertz, etc.), or 19th-century.
- One by a 20th-century composer of any style.
So if we count this all up, they want seven pieces of music. It is very clear that they want as much contrast in era/style as possible. For number three, I would advise to prepare a work from an era that contrasts from the first part of number four. If you choose “Variations on a Theme of Mozart” by Sor (classical era) for number three, then it would be wise to go with a piece by Dowland (Renaissance) or Tarrega (19th-century) for the first part of number four. There is no mention (that I can see) of audition length, although that information is not usually included on these websites.
What will probably happen is you will be given a form to write down the pieces you have prepared. One of the guitar faculty will look at your list and say “Oh, you have prepared Recuerdos de la Alhambra, I would love to hear that.” (I would prepare for a much colder interaction) They may want to hear one more piece, two if you’re unlucky, all of them if you’re incredibly unlucky. This most certainly does not mean you shouldn’t prepare all seven pieces since they will be picked at random. The bright side is, if you’re preparing for a Juilliard audition, you will have plenty of repertoire to play for other auditions!
The Ithaca Audition
Now that we’ve been thoroughly intimidated by the Juilliard audition, let’s look at something more straight down the line: the Ithaca audition. One thing to notice is this audition is required for 8 different majors with classical guitar as the primary instrument.
- Three pieces from the concert repertoire and from contrasting eras (e.g., works by Milan, Dowland, J. S. Bach, Weiss, Sor, Giuliani, Carcassi, Aguado, Tarrega, Villa-Lobos, Brouwer, Ponce)
- Scales (two and three octaves); arpeggio exercises for the right hand; slurs and trills for the left hand
- Sight-reading
- Performance from memory is not required but encouraged.
Number one is clearly the main part of this audition. You will most probably be asked to play two pieces. Note that the term “concert repertoire” is used. Be sure to prepare works that are as formidable as possible (given the amount of time you have to prepare). While it would still be good for you to perfectly execute Bach’s “Minuet in G,” a movement from a Lute Suite would be better.
My Experience
When I was preparing for this exact audition, the second part killed me. I knew the scales meant Segovia scales, but I didn’t know what right hand arpeggios or left hand slurs or trills to prepare. Fortunately, I attended “How to Give a Great Audition” at The College of New Jersey and my future professor, Dr. Day, recommended I purchase Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant. I practiced these exercises like crazy, only to not be asked to perform them at the audition. At the end of the audition I asked why I didn’t have to play them, and the response was “I wanted to make sure all students are auditioning have a good routine of exercises.” Genius!
We will discuss number three in the next section. We have some interesting language in number four. In my opinion, this is the equivalent of someone saying, “Oh, you don’t have to buy me anything for my birthday.” If you haven’t been put in this situation before – you still buy the birthday present. Memorize the music, it’s what classical guitarists are supposed to do.
The Audition Setting
The “Office” Audition
In my experience, there are two types of audition setting. Both can have their own level of intimidation. The most common is the “office audition.” You wait outside the teacher’s office, usually with one or two other candidates. When you are called in it may just be you and the teacher. What is nice about this style audition is it is very personal. You can chat a little bit with the teacher, and if you’re lucky you may even share a laugh. When you are playing for the teacher, you are sitting in close proximity to him and her, so a little bit of psychological preparation may be required.
The “Jury” Audition
The other type of audition is the “jury audition.” These have more of an impersonal nature to them. You will be sitting in front of the guitar chair, and a couple other faculty members. Sometimes it’s on a stage, sometimes it’s in a classroom. It’s still good to make the audition as personal as possible. If they ask you anything about yourself, be sure to give them as much of your personality as your nerves will allow (By “show your personality,” I do NOT mean act unprofessional in any way).
In both of these settings, it’s very common for those who are listening to your audition to be jotting things down on paper. It’s very easy to let this psych you out. Don’t worry, they’re not writing “hopeless,” or “fail” in big red letters on your application. These faculty members have to audition a lot of students each season, so they have to write stuff down.They are teachers after all, and they are probably writing down what strengths and weaknesses you have. It’s best to go into the audition with this in mind. Who knows, you might even get a mini lesson at the end of the audition! (Seriously, those are the best.)
The Audio/Video Audition
Many schools allow you to audition via audio/video. Sometimes this is a pre-screening. It’s important to read the instructions very carefully, especially when it comes to file/format requirements. If there’s something to be done, make sure you do it right!
Other Requirements for College Auditions
Most schools require more than an audition on your instrument. Every audition I went to had different tests during the day. This is usually to determine your placement in Music Theory, Piano, etc. You most definitely want to know what each school requires before going for the audition. Most of the information should be found on the website, some of it may be (e)mailed to you.
The guitar audition at Ithaca required sight-reading. If we look at Ithaca’s schedule for audition day, there is a sight-singing exam as well. I also had to do sight-reading on the piano, music theory testing, ear training testing, and other interviews at various schools. You want to do well for these exams while giving the faculty a realistic idea of what your skills are in each field.
Professionalism
The way you conduct yourself on audition day is very important. You should know where and when everything is. Fortunately most events are in the music building and there will be students, faculty, and signage to make sure you go to all the right places. It’s important to be well dressed. Be prepared to answer and ask questions. An audition is a lot like a job interview so being on your A-game as a musician and a student is a must. Get a good night’s sleep beforehand; if you have to travel a decent distance, definitely consider staying in a hotel room. Also make sure you have a nice big breakfast, these days can seem longer than they are.
